The new program won't cost more than the original vaccination program, he said, because the price of the vaccine is half what it used to be. The cost of vaccinations for Island girls has been $280,000 a year, with about 85 per cent of girls vaccinated.

Health Minister Doug Currie said P.E.I. is the first province to offer the vaccine to boys. Nancy Bickford, public affairs for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, was pleased by the news.

"The SOGC welcomes this move and in fact will be contacting other provincial and territorial ministers of health to follow P.E.I.'s lead," Bickford said.